Insanity

The Bush administration wants to use nukes on terrorists. According to a draft [PDF] of their “Doctrine for Joint Nuclear Operations” which has been leaked to the internet, the US should aim to deter not just governments, but also “nonstate (non-government) actors” (terrorists), from using WMDs – and that

deterrence may be directed at states that support [terrorists’] efforts as well as the terrorist organization itself.

And if deterrence fails, “the United States must be prepared to use nuclear weapons if necessary”. So, if the ultimate nightmare happens, and a terrorist cell gets its hands on a black-market bomb and manages to detonate it, the US proposes to nuke some random country as revenge. The insanity of this policy, in a world where terrorists are actively trying to provoke a “war of civilisations” between Islam and the West, ought to be obvious to all.

As for the idea of deterring terrorist organisations, the logical flaw is right there in the Joint Chiefs’ own list of “what the opposing actor must believe” if deterrence is to be successful: that they have something left to lose. That works on governments, if you don’t back them into a corner – but on people willing to blow themselves up? Again, it is simply insanity to believe that people who are willing to die and who show no concern whatsoever for innocent lives can be deterred by threatening to kill them a million times over. It’s insanity to believe they can be deterred in any way whatsoever. Instead, you need to focus on finding and catching them – not on threatening to murder even more bystanders purely for revenge’s sake.

Idiot/Savant
No Right Turn – New Zealand’s liberal blog

4 Comments

Steven D on September 11, 2005 at 9:27 am

The only reason for this is to attack Iran.

See my earlier diary on this:

The Pentagon, acting under instructions from Vice President Dick Cheney’s office, has tasked the United States Strategic Command (STRATCOM) with drawing up a contingency plan to be employed in response to another 9/11-type terrorist attack on the United States. The plan includes a large-scale air assault on Iran employing both conventional and tactical nuclear weapons. Within Iran there are more than 450 major strategic targets, including numerous suspected nuclear-weapons-program development sites. Many of the targets are hardened or are deep underground and could not be taken out by conventional weapons, hence the nuclear option.

As in the case of Iraq, the response is not conditional on Iran actually being involved in the act of terrorism directed against the United States. Several senior Air Force officers involved in the planning are reportedly appalled at the implications of what they are doing–that Iran is being set up for an unprovoked nuclear attack–but no one is prepared to damage his career by posing any objections.

Oui on September 11, 2005 at 2:56 pm

.
Visiting the Gulf Coast, Corporate VP CEO Dick Cheney, understood project New World Order hit a broken levee in New Orleans.

The total economic cost spread over many years will be thrice the cost of the Iraq Adventure, estimates now range between $200-300bn.

The Republicans may call the administration on the budget deficit, lack of money may prevent a march on Tehran and thereby the launch of mini-nukes (Jan. 20, 2001).

Time for new job as corporate CEO?

▼ ▼ ▼

alohaleezy on September 12, 2005 at 9:18 am

They are determined to “nuke” Iran. That way there will be years of profiteering in the cleanup and full acces to the oil and the region.

shycat on September 12, 2005 at 12:30 pm

I know this sounds nutty-but I have had this ‘feeling’ ever since US troops were pulled from Saudi Arabia-to accomodate the Royal Family and their Wahabist ‘base’- that the whole idea behind regime change in Iraq is to have an army there-close by- to take advantage of some cooked -up terrorist attack on Saudi Arabia- and then take THAT country over.
I have been watching for a wholesale evacuation of the Saudi royals ,then there will be no-one left there but foreign workers (expendable) and disaffected wahabists and Shia–who do all the work in the oilfields.Perhaps why the Shia are being courted so effectively in Iraq.
The reason this idea came to me was reading a book by Robert Baer- called ‘Sleeping with the Devil’. Now ,I dunno what his agenda is-he is apparently an ex-cia agent.But that book started with a scenario of a quicky attack by a boat on the Saudi port where the huge majority of their exports leave through the Persian Gulf.
And all this threatening posture about Iran is the lead-up to that cooked up attack,so that we will have to ‘defend’ Saudi Arabia.
GAWWD I am paranoid.
or maybe have a Machiavellian imagination?

Steven D on September 11, 2005 at 9:27 am

The only reason for this is to attack Iran.

See my earlier diary on this:

The Pentagon, acting under instructions from Vice President Dick Cheney’s office, has tasked the United States Strategic Command (STRATCOM) with drawing up a contingency plan to be employed in response to another 9/11-type terrorist attack on the United States. The plan includes a large-scale air assault on Iran employing both conventional and tactical nuclear weapons. Within Iran there are more than 450 major strategic targets, including numerous suspected nuclear-weapons-program development sites. Many of the targets are hardened or are deep underground and could not be taken out by conventional weapons, hence the nuclear option.

As in the case of Iraq, the response is not conditional on Iran actually being involved in the act of terrorism directed against the United States. Several senior Air Force officers involved in the planning are reportedly appalled at the implications of what they are doing–that Iran is being set up for an unprovoked nuclear attack–but no one is prepared to damage his career by posing any objections.
Oui on September 11, 2005 at 2:56 pm

.
Visiting the Gulf Coast, Corporate VP CEO Dick Cheney, understood project New World Order hit a broken levee in New Orleans.

The total economic cost spread over many years will be thrice the cost of the Iraq Adventure, estimates now range between $200-300bn.

The Republicans may call the administration on the budget deficit, lack of money may prevent a march on Tehran and thereby the launch of mini-nukes (Jan. 20, 2001).

Time for new job as corporate CEO?

▼ ▼ ▼
alohaleezy on September 12, 2005 at 9:18 am

They are determined to “nuke” Iran. That way there will be years of profiteering in the cleanup and full acces to the oil and the region.
shycat on September 12, 2005 at 12:30 pm

I know this sounds nutty-but I have had this ‘feeling’ ever since US troops were pulled from Saudi Arabia-to accomodate the Royal Family and their Wahabist ‘base’- that the whole idea behind regime change in Iraq is to have an army there-close by- to take advantage of some cooked -up terrorist attack on Saudi Arabia- and then take THAT country over.
I have been watching for a wholesale evacuation of the Saudi royals ,then there will be no-one left there but foreign workers (expendable) and disaffected wahabists and Shia–who do all the work in the oilfields.Perhaps why the Shia are being courted so effectively in Iraq.
The reason this idea came to me was reading a book by Robert Baer- called ‘Sleeping with the Devil’. Now ,I dunno what his agenda is-he is apparently an ex-cia agent.But that book started with a scenario of a quicky attack by a boat on the Saudi port where the huge majority of their exports leave through the Persian Gulf.
And all this threatening posture about Iran is the lead-up to that cooked up attack,so that we will have to ‘defend’ Saudi Arabia.
GAWWD I am paranoid.
or maybe have a Machiavellian imagination?

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